Touchdown Baby (24 page)
Authors: Rose Harris
Crumpled on the couch with her face splotchy and dehydrated from the constant flow of tears was where Roxi found Ava when she walked in.
The arms that wrapped around her tightly held little comfort when her world had crashed and burned. Everything that happened was her fault. She made the decision not to tell Jace or her family about Ashlyn, although her family was more astute than she gave them credit for. Now she felt like she ruined her life, her entire family. Would Jace ever forgive her?
When Roxi murmured things only a best friend could say and get away with, i.e., calling the man Ava loved ignorant, selfish, irresponsible and a pig-headed brainless no-good asshole, who should be castrated, Ava smiled. “You do realize he is still your brother?”
“Yeah, I know. I’m just not happy about it right now.” Roxi squeezed a little tighter and then released her. “Stay here. I’ll go get you a rag for your face and a drink so you can hydrate. Do you want ice cream? What am I saying? Of course, you want ice cream. What about a margarita? I can make you one of my world-famous ones.”
Ava smiled and nodded. Roxi left the room.
When she rushed back in the room holding a little box in her hand, Ava panicked. Roxi had tears streaming down her face as she handed the jewelry box over.
“Open it! I can’t believe it,” Roxi gushed.
The panic at thinking it was bad evaporated when she heard Roxi’s excitement.
The hinges on the box with a local jeweler’s name embossed across the top glided smoothly, and the air in the room became electrified. Inside the box was a charm bracelet; the charms sparkled against the pale blue silk. The real stunner was the antique diamond ring that nestled in the middle of the bracelet.
“That’s our grandmother’s engagement ring. I remember being little and asking my Gram if I could have it. She told me no, it would go to the girl Jace gave his heart to. Do you know what this means?” Not waiting for a reply but bubbling over with excitement, Roxi enthused. “You are Jace’s girl. You have his heart. He loves you.”
“No, it can’t be true. He walked out and was so pissed. He pretty much admitted to hating me. He may have thought he loved me, but being faced with me every day for the rest of our lives and knowing I hid his daughter from him was too much.”
The sparkling, princess-cut diamond surrounded by emeralds caused an ache that made the pain from earlier seem pathetic. The want and need to be Jace’s overwhelmed all rational reasoning. Images of dropping Ashlyn off for weekends and summer vacations broke her down. Ava dropped to the floor, clutching the box to her chest, and she wanted to scream at the injustice. If she had only told him, maybe they could have been a family.
With a wipe of her arm across her damp cheeks to clear the never-ending tears, she looked down at the charms. She was holding a time line of their relationship.
Lightly touching the delicate charms, she explained their significance to Roxi, starting with the horse charm that represented their first kiss. Roxi asked what the horse represented. Ava sighed and told her the story of the ride home in his Mustang. There were charms to represent their careers, three figures representing a mom, dad and daughter. He actually left a couple of links open, in which she assumed he figured he could fill up with more children. He had thought of everything. He even put on a Mickey Mouse charm to represent the trip to Disney World he knew she wanted to take Ashlyn on, but the one that moved her most was the heart that had been engraved with
yours
.
That was the sign she needed. He loved her. The tears that fell now were in happiness, and Ava let them fall as she stood; she knew what she had to do. She was going to get her man. Having made terrible decisions in the past by keeping secrets had taught her the only way to get what you want was to say it, loudly if you had to.
“Will you watch Ashlyn? I’m going after him.” Not waiting for a reply and remembering only at the last minute to stop and change clothes, Ava rushed from her house and headed home.
The drive home to Nashville seemed to drag. Normally he would have sped, but the storms that brought in the latest cold front slowed progress. Not looking forward to going home to an empty house Jace had stopped at a restaurant on the way and drowned his sorrow in sweet tea.
When he entered the garage, he sat in his car, and he looked over to the stall with the Escalade beside him. He’d come to think of it as Ava’s car, but he wasn’t sure she would want to come back after the way he had spoken to her again.
Most of what he said was true. He was mad and hurt, but damn he loved her despite what she had done. He had spent most of the ride home thinking about how he was going to get her to forgive him.
Jace needed to relax, and he headed straight upstairs to change his clothes. The best way to get out his frustrations had always been a brutal workout.
Out of habit, he put in his ear buds but then remembered he didn’t have to keep the music down, there was no one there to hear it. With angry music blasting out of the speakers, it fit his mood, and he put his body through a punishing workout. When he was about to call it quits, the lights flickered, and his alarm sounded.
He raced out of the room, only slowing to hit the power button for the music, so it wouldn’t blow the speakers when it came on later when the power returned. Jace hurried to the alarm panel. Once he deactivated the alarm, he realized someone was trying to get in the front door while the storm raged outside.
Adrenaline coursed through him, and he spoiled for a fight. He yanked open the door and braced himself to defend his home.
Before him, soaked to the bone, was Ava. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and keep her safe, but not knowing what her reaction would be, he held himself back.
Jace could not make out her eyes and had no idea what her showing up at his door meant.
In typical Ava fashion, she read his mind. “I need to know if you mean it. Do I hold your heart?”
Jace reached out to grab her hand and pull her in from the storm. He was shocked when Ava pulled back.
“I need to know if you really love me? Can you forgive me for all the secrets I kept from you?”
Ava looked so young and fragile standing on his step. Love poured from Jace, and if he ever doubted his ability to forgive and forget mistakes they both had made in the past, those doubts evaporated.
“Come inside. You’re drenched, and I don’t think you really want to have this conversation while standing outside.”
Ava turned her face up to the heavens. The awning over his steps doing little to shield her from the rain, raindrops bounced off her face. Lightning lit up the sky, and the thunder rolled in the distance. Ava looked him in the eye and said, “I can’t think of a more fitting place. Storms have always brought out the truth in both of us.” Ava stepped down from his doorway and directly into the rain.
With one step, he left the comfort of his warm, dry house and embraced the icy rain and unchartered emotions. He didn’t stop until he was only a breath away from Ava. The scent of her shampoo perfumed the air as he slipped his fingers through her hair and bracketed her face with his hands. The cold rain soaked him immediately, and he couldn’t hold himself back anymore. He captured her mouth with his. This would be remembered as the catalyst to their future.
What started out as a gentle kiss turned hot and aggressive. The physical pull paled to the emotions that brought them together. With a gentle tug, her body plastered against him, he felt the love flow between them. Jace could feel his past, present and future while he kissed Ava; he knew he would never have to doubt their love.
Gently he pulled back from the kiss that promised to get out of control quickly on his front yard in the downpour. They would both likely develop pneumonia with that much exposure. Jace placed kisses across her cheek and down her neck. In between each kiss he spoke.
“I love you. I want to spend the rest of our lives together telling you how much I love you…” Another kissed dropped on her mouth. “Do you think you would be willing to spend the rest of your days dealing with an arrogant, selfish athlete with aches and pains that will age me before my time…?” The kiss he placed on her lips led him to hold her a little tighter. “Would you be willing to love me when I make bad decisions, forget to call when I am going to be home late, leave toothpaste in the sink and occasionally leave the toilet seat up? I promise to do my best always to put you first in my life…” Another gentle kiss on her lips. “I will support you and your dreams as long as they include me. I want to have more children with you. After all, we make beautiful babies…”
The smile spread across Ava’s face was the answer Jace needed, but he wanted the word. Looking into her eyes as she gazed up at him, he wasn’t sure if she was crying or if it was just the rain.
Just in case he didn’t make his case clear, Jace dropped to his knee letting the rain hit his face as he gazed up his future. “You have been a part of my life since the moment you came home with Roxi to play in elementary school. You watched me grow from an awkward kid to an ignorant teenage boy and, finally, a man who can’t imagine taking his next breath without you by his side. You make me want to be a better man, a father and most importantly,
yours
. Would you do me the honor of taking my last name and making me the luckiest man in the world?”
When she knelt before him, he felt like his heart would explode. “I promise to love you until I can’t remember who you are and then fall in love with you again every day after that. You have always held my heart in your hands. I will stand by your side for the good, the bad and sometimes ugly journey that lies ahead of us.”
Jace wrapped her in his arms, stood up and spun them in circles. That was when he realized the storm had passed. Pulling back, he promised to give her the ring when they went to pick up Ashlyn, but she surprised him by pulling it out of her purse.
Jace felt the weight of the moment surround them. With his grandmother’s ring, he slipped it on his girl’s hand. He remembered his grandfather saying the best decision he ever made was asking for his only love to spend the rest of their days in love with him. Jace couldn’t agree more.
He really did live a golden life.
The ceremony was short but sweet, just what he asked for. After all, he had to make sure his girls didn’t get away again. The image of Ava walking down the aisle on her father’s arm with his family, friends and teammates looking on would be burned into his mind forever.
Honestly, as they stepped on the dance floor at their reception, he couldn’t believe his luck. He had the most amazing woman wrapped in his arms with his gold band circling her finger. Of course, when she placed the ring on his finger, she made a point of showing him she had engraved
Yours
inside the band.
The tears in his eyes that threatened during her entire walk down the aisle fell, and when she wiped them away with a gentle touch, he knew his life was truly perfect.
How she had managed to get this wedding planned and graduate while he tried to prepare for training camp in a little over three weeks made him in awe of her abilities as a woman, mother and now a wife. How he ever doubted his ability to love and be loved was beyond his power. He had found his true self when he was with his wife and daughter. They made him strong, and he wanted to be so much more for them.
As the DJ started their song, he knew he had picked the perfect one. Jace could have been more involved in the planning of the wedding, but the only thing he wanted control of was the music.
The sultry voice of Ms. Etta James came floating down over them with a simple “At Last,” and Ava melted in his arms. It may have seemed clichéd, but nothing else could sum up his feelings.
“How long did it take you to pick this song?” Ava sighed while her head rested against his chest.
“About thirty seconds. I knew it was the right song when I read the title. Also it was a song my dad would sing to my mom when he thought no one was around.”
Ava gazed at her husband and fell a little more in love with him as he brought another precious memory of his beloved family to the best day of their life. When he leaned down and placed a gentle kiss against her lips, the cheers from the guests made them laugh.
Their song ended, she slipped from her husband’s arms and made her way to her dad for the father-daughter dance; she had no idea what song Jace had picked. When “Stealing Cinderella” played and she saw Jace dancing with Ashlyn, and now, Roxi was dancing with her dad, Ava felt complete. Happiness overwhelmed her, and she thanked her dad for giving her this special day and giving her the best life and support any girl could ever ask for.
Ava finally made her way back into her husband’s arms; she laughed as she heard “I Love a Rainy Night”
playing. “You really know how to pick the songs. I’m impressed with your taste.”
“My taste in music is eclectic but impeccable, just like my taste in women.”
With a raised eyebrow, Ava asked, “Women?”
“Let me rephrase that, Mrs. Johnson, my taste in a wife is impeccable.” Jace kissed her a promise that their wedding night was going to be explosive and memorable.
When she pulled back so she would not embarrass herself by jumping her husband at their reception, she noticed Alex and Roxi off to the side looking like they were arguing.
Jace sighed. “Let them work out their differences.”
Ava knew she couldn’t do that. She would have to find out what was going on with those two—but not today. Today, she was going to soak up all the love in the air and enjoy her first day as Mrs. Jace Johnson aka “Golden Boy.”
THE END